Releasable draft coupling for tractors



Feb;` 5', 1929.

y 1,700,767 R. KLIEM ET AL RELEASABLE DRAFT GOUPLING FOR TRAcToRs Filed June 11, 1927 Pamesa Fee. 5,1929."

nnnnasannn DRAFT cours v VIippleatonfiled .Tune 1i,

V'T his invention relaties to a releasable draft attachment for tractors, such 'for instance, as devices commonly known as tractor hitch'es.A

fin tractor bitches 'as heretofore constructed, attempts have been' 1nade to provide a A rcleasable or automatichitch whichl will rel lease when the load or drag upon the tractor exceeds a predetermined amount. 'lhesedevices, however, have not proven-wholly satlo istactory as they are relatively complicated and likely to get out of order'on the one hand, and on the other hand, necessitate either a lcomp res'sing of the spring, which necessarily is heavy, or else a readjustment of alargenumber of parts in order to re# attach the device to they tractor.

rihis invention is designed to. overcome the defects noted above and objects of suchl in vention are toprovid a novel form of tractor hitch which automatically releases when the load exceeds a predetermined amount and which maybe restored to lat-ching,- condition without readju-stiifig,` a large number of parts and without the'necessity of compressing the spring orniaking other diiiicult adjustments, but which instead may be again latche'd in a very simple and easy manner. Further objects are to provide a tractor 'which nevertheless is of very simple construction and has a small number' of rugged and strong parts.

An enibodinient et the invention shown in the accompanying.drawings in which:

Figure l is a side elevation of the device with parts broken away showing` the device in t'ull lines in locked position'and in dot-ted lines in other po ions of adjustment, as will appear' hereinafter;

Figure 2 is a plan view with the spring` shown infscction to more fully illustrate the locking bar;

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3--3 of Figure l. l

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the tractor hitch comprises a body portion 1 which may be formed of a pair of spaced flanges, one of which is provided with a vspacing boss 2. rl`he flanges are provided ywith thickened rear portions 3 which abut when the device is assembled. rThe Lipper portion of the webs l, or fianges,'are provided with thickened portions 4 which abut when the deviceis assembled. The body portion eX- ltends upwardly adjacent its front to provide spaced guiding arms 5 between which the hitch having the characteristics noted above, ,6and it is to7 be noted that this l non rnzrofrons.

les?. serial no. 198,214.kr

locking bary 6 is s lid'ably mounted. A spacer 7 is positioned between the arms 5 and is provided with 'a rearwardly and downwardly slanting bottom surface V8. The webs .or flanges l forming the body port-ion are selcurly h'eldtogctherby means oi rivets 9 which are passed through tlie'boss2, the rectangular rear portion 3, the thickened '10rtlon k,an'd the spacer Y, to thus securely lock all of the t I i i i pose ot thstwopart construction is to ,provide a ready means or'retaininpi the enlarged head 10 Vand the shank'. l1 of the connecting clevis l2 for the cultivator .or other matchiI/ie or load .which is draggedalong by the tractor. rhe cl vis, obviously, may be connected "in drawn instrumentality;as for enainplegb'y Vany vdesired nia-nner to the tongue `l?) of the meansdfaremovablepiani. y 'The upper portion the bodyo'i thev de# vice is l provided Ywith'il-shapedIguides or zQlj-rooved portions l5A wi* c which a 4slide 16 is adapted to ,This slide entends up wardlyand is ,providedwith a pair of .si ed upper armslrwhich are no'rinallyfbrid'fed means of aspaciiig sleeve i8 .and whichv are joined by a thuiiib screw 1'9. These spaced arms 17 receivebetween them the lockingI bai ekilsbf is provided with a'. reduced p tion 20' (se'e" Figure2) which permits its upward| passage between the spaii'igF arms 17 k"wher'i the screw.

srigidly together. v'lhepur-y i lil and the sleeve'lSKa-re removed. Th'epref duced por-tion continues a slight distance beyond the arms and is intekgially joined to an enlarged rear por*` onl G whosefsligihtly curved forward face bearsk against the-VA ver tical t the' bur 'and the arms. rlhe forward nd of vthe bar 6 is downturnedl to provide a locking lip 2l which cooperates with the end of a pivotally mounted latch 22. This latch 22 is pivoted upon a.V pint-le pin 23 passino' through the forward end ofthe webs oriianges l, as shown in Figure 1. Y lrn order to hold the locking bar in locking engagement with the latch 23, a wedge-shaped member 24 is slid between the locking bar G and the slanting surface 8 ofv the spacing member 7. It is retained in place by means of a spring pressed locking plunger 25 provided with a manipulating head 26. Thus, when the parts are in the position shown, the plunger 25 locks the wedge 24 in place and prevents its longitudinal shifting. The wedge, in' turn, holds the slidably mounted 4its full line position.

mounting the plunger 25 is to carry the plunger within a screw threaded sleeveor gland 27 which'screws into the spacing block 7.V A

spring, as shown in the drawings, cooperates with therplunger 25 and urges it into locking position. The locking bar 6 yis surrounded by a relatively heavy spring 29 which bears at its rear end against the armsl 17 of the slide and at its forward end bears against the arms 5 of the body portion.

In using'the device, the clevisjor draft portion 28 of the tractor is hooked into'the curved latch 22, as shown, and the device drawn by the tractor is received by the member 12. When a predetermined load is exceeded, the latch 22 is rocked into its dotted line position, thereby drawing the locking bar 6 outwardly into the extended or dotted line position. Under these conditions, the latch clears the lip 21 of the locking bar and vreleases the tractor from the load. Y

In reestablishing connection between the lockingbar andthelatch it is not necessary to Y compress the spring 29. All that is necessary is to release the wedge 24 from the plunger 25 by drawing upwardly upon the head 26.

The wedge is slipped forwardly, thus permitting 'lateral rocking of the locking bar'` 6 into its upper dotted line position shown l inFigure 1. When in this position, the latch 22 may be again passed through the clevis 28 ofthe tractor and rocked rearwardly into Thereafter, the locking bar is pressed downwardly into engagement with the end of the latch and the wedge 24 is again inserted in place to prevent lateral rocking of the bar 6.

It will be seen, therefore, that a very sim ple means has been provided to permit re- Y establishmentV of the locking connection between the locking bar 6 and the latch 22 without compressing the heavy spring 29.

Further, this reestablishment of the locking connections may be secured without unscrewing any bolts or nuts or otherwise exeouting av large number'of operations. In stead, it is very simply performed. I Yit willbe seen further that a very simple type oftractor hitch having the automatic characteristieof releasing the load When'it exceeds a predetermined value has been pro vided by this invention.l

lt will be seen furtherthat the device may bevery easily and cheaply manufactured and readily assembled.

Although the invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as illustrative rat-her than limitingv asL the invention may be variously embodied and as the scope of such invention is to be v determined as claimed. VlWe claim:

1. ik tractor hitch comprising a body portion having means at its rear for attachment to a load, a pivotally mounted latch for removably receiving thek draft portion of a i tractor, a .slid'ably mounted springheld locking bar 'for yieldingly holding said latch against opening movement, aiidgmovable means for permitting lateral shifting of the locking bar for reestablishing locking en-` gagement between said latch and locking bar, and releasable means forholding said locking means against movement.

2. A tractor hitch comprising a body pori tion, a clevis receiving leverpivoted thereto e and having a free end, a longitudinally slidable bar carried by said bodyV portion and RDoLr Krimi/i. i srANLnY r. Unisiiiiiiiir. 

